Alberta announces new, temporary measures to contain COVID-19 surge

The restrictions apply to Red Deer, Edmonton, Calgary, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge and Fort McMurray.

The province is also making bars, lounges and pubs stop serving alcohol by 10 p.m. and close at 11 p.m. in areas of the province under enhanced watches.

Additional public health measures will also be implemented in all regions under an enhanced status. These measures will be in place until further notice:

– Maximum attendance of 50 at wedding or funeral ceremonies.

– It is recommended all faith-based activities limit attendance to one-third capacity per service.

– Residents should not hold social gatherings within their homes and should not plan social gatherings outside their community.

– It is recommended employers in office settings implement measures to reduce the number of employees in the workplace at one time.

All existing guidance and legal orders remain in place in all areas.

“This must be taken seriously. We are putting our faith in the good judgment of Albertans which is why these measures are voluntary right now,” Kenney stressed. “The alternative to voluntary action by Albertans is mandatory restrictions like in most other places backed by fines.”

(Source: Alberta Health)

The City of Red Deer said in a statement that it is working on implementing operational changes as a result of these measures.

“We know these new health measures are significant, and that citizens will have questions,” said Allan Seabrooke, City Manager. “We are continuing to assess the measures announced this afternoon by the province and expect to share more in the coming days.”

Effective tomorrow (Friday), Activity Reservations and programs at City recreation and culture facilities involving group fitness, group aquatics, team-based programming, and group singing or dancing will be cancelled through Nov. 27, in accordance with new health measures announced today. Anyone with Activity Reservations or registered in a session of programming will be contacted by The City, either by phone or email. Activity Reservations for individual activities such as; use of the walking tracks, public swim, lane swimming and gym areas for single player basketball, pickleball and badminton, continue to be available.

Premier Kenney said Thursday 40 per cent of the spread of COVID-19 can be traced to transmission at home and at social gatherings.

He added that respecting these voluntary measures can turn the numbers around and therefore protect the health-care system without impairing businesses or jobs.

Alberta recorded 860 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.

There are 8,305 active cases, up 215 since Tuesday – the most recent update, and 27,707 recovered cases, up 1,300.

There are now 225 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 51 of which are in ICU, and 393 deaths – an increase of 10 from what was reported on Wednesday.

There have been a total of 36,405 cases in Alberta over the course of the pandemic.

Exact testing numbers remain unavailable due to outstanding technical issues with the province’s reporting site, but the premier said more than 15,000 tests were completed in the past 24 hours.

Kenney said all the stats add up to one unavoidable fact:

“The growing number of hospitalizations and ICU admissions are challenging our ability to continue delivering non-urgent health services that Albertans depend on,” he said. “And this of course affects everyone. It’s not just an Edmonton problem or a Calgary problem.”

Kenney took part in Thursday’s media conference by telephone as he announced that he is in self-isolation after being in close contact with a COVID-19 case on Monday and awaiting test results. The premier says he will be in self-isolation until Nov. 23.

Red Deer has 92 active cases of COVID-19, an increase of one, along with 199 recovered, an increase of 19. The total number of cases attributed to the city is now listed at 291.

Local COVID-19 numbers were updated on Thursday for the first time since Tuesday.

Red Deer County has 10 active cases, an increase of two, while Sylvan Lake has nine active cases, a decrease of two.

Lacombe County is listed with six active cases, an increase of three, while the city of Lacombe held steady with 20.

Ponoka County sits at 63 active cases.

Rocky Mountain House (Clearwater County) is down by one to five active cases. Mountain View County has 14 active cases, Olds has one and Kneehill County has 10. The County of Stettler has one active case as of Thursday’s update.

Health Minister Tyler Shandro said Alberta has posted 425 positions to hire for contact tracing teams, which will bring the team’s total to 1,100.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said the contact tracing team and Albertans notified more than 43,000 close contacts between Nov. 6-9.

She announced a new online tool to aid Albertans in close contact notifications, allowing for automated texting of close contacts.

“This tool will further support Albertans and will help speed up contact tracing,” Hinshaw said.

She added that when the rural zones are combined, Alberta has crossed the threshold of five per cent average daily hospital growth over two weeks; it is currently at seven per cent.

The trigger of more than 50 per cent of COVID ICU capacity in use was also hit this week. The province is at 73 per cent of those 70 beds, Hinshaw said.

“As the premier has said, this is deeply concerning.”

On Tuesday there are 169 schools in the province where outbreaks have been declared. Alberta Health’s threshold for declaring an outbreak in school is two cases being in a school while infectious within 14 days. As of Thursday Holy Family School is the only Red Deer school on the list.

(With file from The Canadian Press and Chris Brown – CHAT News Today)

by Troy Gillard

Alberta announces new, temporary measures to contain COVID-19 surge

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